American athlete who was the sole competitor in modern history to win the decathlon on two separate occasions. He first was the decathlon champion at the 1948 Olympic games in England, then again at the Helsinki Olympic games in 1952.
Mathias was the son of Dr. Charles and Lillian Mathias. His father noted that his son, even as a toddler, exhibited better-than-normal coordination. Mathias participated in his first track meet at age 12 and was in every sport in high school. Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” wrote that 232 days following Tulare High School track coach Virgil Jackson’s suggestion that Mathias begin thinking about working on some other track events like the discus, high jump, pole vault and shot-put, Mathias had won the Olympic decathlon. “Two months before the 1948 Olympic Games, Bob Mathias had not only never completed in a decathlon, he had never competed in six of the ten events.” On his way home, Mathias stopped in Washington DC where he met President Truman. He returned to Tulare a home-town hero. He attended Kiski Prep in Pennsylvania before transferring to Stanford where he played football for three seasons. He dropped out before his senior year to train for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. At 21 he was able to enjoy the games because he knew what he was doing and was able to evaluate his competition. Mathias broke his own world record with 7,887 points, a record 912 points ahead of silver-medallist Milt Campbell of the US. He returned to Stanford and after graduation went into the Marine Corps for two years. He competed in an all-service decathlon in 1955.
He made a motion picture, “China Doll,” starring Victor Mature and also appeared in a TV series, “Trouble Shooters,” made some commercials and acted in other movies. He wanted to participate in the 1956 Olympics, but was no longer considered an amateur as a result of his work in the media.
Mathias went on to become a Republican congressman from California’s 18th district from 1967 to 1975. He served briefly as deputy director of the selective service, then as California finance director of the 1976 Ford-for-President campaign. He ran the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for seven years, worked for former NFL coach George Allen, and became the executive director of the National Fitness Foundation.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and politician died of cancer at age 75 in Fresno, CA on September 2, 2006.
Link to Wikipedia biography